Ninety-three-year-old Leo J. Pratts Sr. of Abita Springs, Louisiana, was awakened shortly before 4 a.m. on September 30th by someone breaking through the front door of his home. The intruder, later identified as Michael Patterson, 22, began beating Pratts with a tree branch. The retired postal worker told the New Orleans Times-Picayune for October 1st that Patterson "acted like he wanted to beat me to death." Fortunately, however, Pratts was able to reach under his pillow, grab a .38 caliber pistol he kept there for protection, and fire a number of shots at his assailant. Patterson dropped to the floor and was subsequently pronounced dead at a local hospital.

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